We’re excited to announce that Dr. Jodi A. Barnes will be our keynote speaker for the 2020 Annual Conference!

Jodi A. Barnes is an Associate Research Professor and Research Station Archeologist with the Arkansas Archeological Survey, a unit of the University of Arkansas system. She earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from American University in Washington, DC and a Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies and B.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina.

After completing a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of South Carolina, she worked as the Staff Archaeologist for the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Her current research focuses on the archaeologies of health and foodways at 19th century Hollywood Plantation and the material life of Camp Monticello, a World War II Italian prisoner of war camp. She is the editor of a thematic issue on the intimate archaeologies of World War II in the journal Historical Archaeology (2018) and The Materiality of Freedom (2011) and co-editor of Managing Cultural Resources: Global Context, National Programs, Local Actions (2008).

Presentation: Public Archaeology 2020: Arkansas as a Case Study
Jodi A. Barnes, Arkansas Archeological Survey

As the first formal public archaeology program in the United States, the Arkansas Archeological Survey “mutually assist[s] and cooperate[s] with the Arkansas Archeological Society in furthering the purposes of public archaeological education.” Founded in 1868, state legislation encourages the two organizations to work together. From the Annual Training Program, the certification and stewardship programs, the Endangered African-American Cemeteries Initiative, Archeology Month, and on-going programs at the ten regional offices, Arkansas archeologists involve the public in citizen science — collecting data, advancing scientific knowledge, and preserving the past. In this talk, Dr. Barnes will provide an overview of the history of Arkansas archeology and the ways advocationalist archaeologists have shaped the organization with recommendations for the future of public archaeology.